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Michigan State football job a chance for Courtney Hawkins to give back to alma mater

George Perles pulled Courtney Hawkins from Flint to Michigan State more than 30 years ago.

The wide receiver’s talent was evident immediately, as he set a single-season mark with 1,080 yards as a sophomore. From 1988 to 1991, Hawkins earned All-Big Ten first-team honors twice, then became a second-round pick in the NFL draft. He remains among the Spartans’ all-time leaders in a number of receiving categories.

But before Hawkins left, his former coach demanded one thing of him.

New Michigan State football wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins was a two-time All-Big Ten first-team selection during his Spartan career from 1998-91.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Michigan State Athletics)

“He made me promise that, at some point, ‘You better get your degree,’ ” Hawkins said during a conference call Wednesday. “I remember sitting in his office after my senior year and the years when I would pop back up there. It would just be like I was still one of his players. Just a great individual

“He cared about us all. We knew he cared, he showed you that he cared, and he created some great men.”

It is now Hawkins’ turn to do what Perles did and return to his alma mater to coach the next generation.

Mel Tucker called the nine-year NFL veteran on Valentine’s Day and, five days later, hired Hawkins for his first college coaching job. The 50-year-old returns to East Lansing after spending nearly 14 years as head football coach and athletic director at his high school alma mater, Flint Beecher.

“He's done a phenomenal job,” Tucker said in February. “He knows the game. He knows what Michigan State is all about. He played the game at the highest level. That's why I wanted him here. He's going to be a tremendous asset for Michigan State.”

Hawkins brought a championship pedigree to MSU as an athlete, with two state titles in basketball and four in track as part of Beecher's team. He also earned all-state honors in both sports. He still ranks fifth in Spartans history in kick return yards (1,571), sixth in receiving yards (2,210), seventh in receptions (138), and eighth in all-purpose yards (4,125).

Courtney Hawkins at Michigan State.(Photo: Michigan State University)

The Buccaneers took the 5-foot-9, 190-pound receiver with the 44th pick of the 1992 draft. In five seasons with the Bucs and four more with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he caught 366 passes for 4,573 yards and 18 touchdowns. Hawkins' time with the Steelers meant another connection with Perles — the MSU coach won four Super Bowls as an assistant coach in Pittsburgh.

The two kept in touch, Hawkins said, and he eventually did return to get his degree in criminal justice before landing the job at Beecher in 2006. In his 14 seasons, Beecher reached the state playoffs 12 times and won three conference championships, three division championships and one regional championship.

Hawkins has also been Beecher's AD for eight years — Beecher’s boys basketball team has five Class C state championships in that span.

“I’m into giving back, and I felt like I’ve done some things well,” Hawkins said. “I’ve worked hard at being a good person, being a good role model.”

Hawkins received the Donald Riegle Community Service Award in 2019 for his service to the city of Flint and was named the regional athletic director of the year in 2018 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

But even before taking Tucker’s call, Hawkins felt ready to challenge himself at the next level.

“I’d say over the last six, seven years, I’ve expressed interest in wanting to coach in college,” he said. “I’ve been coaching high school for 14 years and I said before I hung my coaching whistle, this is something that was on my bucket list, and I always thought no better place to do it than back home.”

George Perles, born July 16, 1934, coached MSU football from 1983-1994. Perles was elected to the MSU Board of Trustees in 2006 but resigned in 2019.(Photo: Julian H. Gonzalez, Detroit Free Press)

Perles died Jan. 7, a little more than two months before his former pupil followed in his footsteps.

“Coach Perles was one of the most influential men in my life. I absolutely love Coach Perles like a dad,” Hawkins said. “The one thing he would do, most of the time when I saw Coach, even when his health was deteriorating, he would reach out and he would give me a hug. Coach and I had a great relationship.”

Tucker believes Hawkins is ready for his next step, even without having coached above high school.

“With Courtney, I mean, football is football — whether it's high school, college or pro,” Tucker said. “I will tell you what, just having been in this for 23 years and seeing what high school coaches have to deal with on a day-to-day basis, I still think coaching high school ball is more difficult than coaching college or pro. That's my opinion. They have to do everything.”

Hawkins admitted his transition from high school to college coaching has been “rocky” early, with the complications of the timing of his hiring and the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down football activities and schools nationwide. He was barely three weeks into learning his players’ names and getting to know the coaching staff when the stoppage “put that on hold for a minute.”

But his otherwise brief indoctrination elevated his excitement level. And it reminded him of the days of suiting up and following Perles on fall Saturdays at Spartan Stadium.

Courtney Hawkins is among MSU's career leaders in numerous receiving categories.(Photo: Michigan State University)

“Just to have the opportunity to come back to my alma mater, to run up the tunnel once again in competition — it’s something that just thinking about and talking about gives me goose bumps,” Hawkins said. “So I am just super grateful, working hard.”

And it gives him a chance to leave an impression on players, much as Perles did on him.

“These guys that are 18, 19, 22 years old, it would be an opportunity to pour into them, to teach them about being a good person and also to help them up their football game. … So for me, actually it was a no-brainer. And I’m really grateful to Coach Tucker for giving me this opportunity at Michigan State University,” Hawkins said. “Like I’ve told a lot of people, a lot of people can’t write this story.”